Bright Morning Walk

Bright Morning Walk__7x5 oil study__$150

At the park where we had the workshop, there are some nice walking trails. I got tired of painting the trees so turned to see this girl on the trail with her dog. For about 20 seconds I "memorized" what I saw...paying special attention to the things that would change first! When she had passed out of view, I quickly put down what I remembered, added the background (which DID NOT change because it was still there) and then I finished it by making up the rest!!!. All of this took about 30 minutes. Then, The FUN PART was, that she walked by AGAIN, and I got to check my work!

I teach these techniques in my workshops...helping you to see and capture IMPRESSIONS quickly.

Below are locations for a few of my workshops. email me if you want more info on any of these...

And here is a link to a SPECIAL ONE.

(I can't wait to see the water go down the drain BACKWARDS there!)

July-August ___weekly__Austin___ "Chocolates and Chiaroscuro" 

Sept. 15, 2012___Salado TX

2013___New York City, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania...

2014___February 23-March 1___New Zealand

**BE SURE to tell me if you sign up! I like to send things to my students to get them ready, keep them "seeing", and thinking, and talking about it!

Second Light

Second Light___6x6 oil study___$150 (see side by side with yesterday's FIRST light)

This was painted IMMEDIATELY after the Red Rubber Ball I posted yesterday. These were a workshop lesson on Capturing Impressions Quickly...I demonstrated on a small scale, so that I could work even faster! The main lesson here was the RADIANT nature of both light and shadow...if you took the workshop, did you remember that???...I cannot wait to develop these lessons further in upcoming workshops!...

Here are some locations for a few of my workshops. email me if you want more info on any of these...

And here is a link to a SPECIAL ONE.

I can't wait to see the water go down the drain BACKWARDS there!

July-August ___weekly__Austin___ "Chocolates and Chiaroscuro" 

Sept. 15, 2012___Salado TX

2013___New York City, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania...

2014___February 23-March 1___New Zealand

**BE SURE to tell me if you sign up! I like to send things to my students to get them ready, keep them "seeing", and thinking, and talking about it!

Red Rubber Ball

Red Rubber Ball___6x6 oil study___$150

Our summer mornings are bright, cool and colorful this time of year. When the sun just breaks, it reminds me of the lyrics to an old song! Here is one sunrise from last week's workshop at Brushy Creek Lake. Colors change FAST at sunrise, a real challenge for the artist, but one trick is to learn to see them all at once, rather than just one at a time!

Upcoming workshops are listed below.... email me if you want more info on any of these...

and here is a link to a SPECIAL ONE that I am so excited I can barely think about!!!

July-August ___weekly__Austin___ "Chocolates and Chiaroscuro"

Sept. 15___Salado TX

2013___New York City, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan

2014___February 23-March 1___New Zealand

**BE SURE to tell me if you sign up! I like to send things to my students to get them ready, keep them "seeing", and thinking, and talking about it!

How 106 Begins

How 106 Begins___8x10 oil on canvas___available at Cactus Jack's, Gruene, TX
I went out EARLY, yesterday, and painted the start of a HOT day with a couple of friends....When I was painting my "Last Year on the Farm", I painted the ends of the day often, because my children were younger and very busy, and the early or late times were when we were home! Because of that, I learned to grab color fast and to identify the things that will change first...these are things I LOVE to share at my workshops.
 Some locations for my upcoming workshops are below. email me if you want more info on any of these...

and here is a link to a SPECIAL ONE that I am so excited I can barely think about!!!

July-August ___weekly__Austin___ "Chocolates and Chiaroscuro"

Sept. 15___Salado TX

2013___New York City, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan

2014___February 23-March 1___New Zealand

**BE SURE to tell me if you sign up! I like to send things to my students to get them ready, keep them "seeing", and thinking, and talking about it!

Glare on the Goat Barn

Glare on the Goat Barn___6x8 oil study on linen panel___$190

I taught a lot about LIGHT during my past workshop at the coffee shop! We had to do our plein air work EARLY because of our big Texas heat, so our light was the sunrise... I found this great location on Ronald Reagan Boulevard, north of Round Rock: goat barn, wild sunflowers, cattle, a stock tank (with a bit of water, still), and the eastern sunrise all ready for us!!!

Without teaching the whole lesson, here, I will just say that this one is all about the "radiant" of color and LIGHT which spreads from the sun, and the "radiant" of contrasting cool darks on display in the clouds...The challenge for a painter is keeping these two things SEPARATE, but TOGETHER!!!...and making sure that when your orange meets blue the BROWN  that happens does not LOOK brown!....It's something that I SHOW better than TELL! haha...I paint better with oils than I do with words :)

Here are some locations for my upcoming workshops. email me if you want more info on any of these...

and here is a link to a SPECIAL ONE that I am so excited I can barely think about!!!

July-August ___weekly__Austin___ "Chocolates and Chiaroscurro"

Sept. 15___Salado TX

2013___New York City, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan

2014___February 23-March 1___New Zealand

**BE SURE to tell me if you sign up! I like to send things to my students to get them ready, keep them "seeing", and thinking, and talking about it!

Big 'Un

Big 'Un___6x6 oil study on panel___sold to CH

This little guy was fishing on the bank opposite where the snake was, but we all noted how MANY lures were hanging in the trees here! It's one thing to not be able to cast well when you are a rookie fisherman, but my friends at Living Waters Fly Fishing say we ought to clean up our mess when we fish...By the way, this little boy caught a nice little fish and left no lures in the trees!

Anneke's Sunrise

Anneke's Sunrise___6x6 oil demo___sold
Here is another sunrise from the same location! The snake story took place on the other side of those trees ....You might be figuring out what the theme of my workshop was last week!
Not just "sunrises" but learning to "see" and capture an impression QUICKLY....After a few years of painting our last year on the farm and other passing rural places, I have learned a few tricks that I teach in my workshops...next one is in Salado, Texas for one day in September. email me if you are interested! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

On Brushy Creek Lake

On Brushy Creek Lake__11x14 oil on linen panel___A workshop demo__$750 unframed
Brushy Creek Lake is near my home in Round Rock, Texas. This point has beautiful views of the sunrise or moonrise this time of year. I will frame this canvas for one of my galleries, unless someone wants it unframed.
Yesterday I told part of the story about painting at this location during last week's workshop....Besides the grumpy man who missed a couple of great fish, we had a snake here! Right there where the water is blue near the bank, a large fish was swimming by and paused to look at us. It lifted about 8 inches of neck high out of the water, then went under the surface near this tree. I could see it rolling a little bit and it seemed to be feeding or reaching. I could tell it was about five feet long and pretty thick, but it did not look poisonous, so I watched it. After about 15 minutes it lay still and we all wondered what to do....I was rather distressed that it looked dead!...eventually, we went back to painting.
Have you ever painted with one eye on the canvas and one eye on a big snake?
Some park rangers happened by to tell us about poison ivy on the tree (right there), and to watch out for water moccasins. We showed them the snake and they fished it out. Sadly the snake had indeed died, after snagging its tail on a hook and lure on the bank. Oh that was sad! He was a magnificent big rat snake...one that usually eats rats, mice and I've been told rattle snakes!

Good Morning, Anyway

Good Morning, Anyway___6x6 oil on canvas panel___SOLD

I jumped out of my car and stood in the path, premixing these colors while waiting for the gang to show up for our morning session.  I stayed close to the parking lot, since it was dark...about 30 minutes before sunrise and the moon was just fading...these colors are important to capture quickly. The cars were pulling in, and I didn't look up when I heard the footsteps...thinking it was one of "us" I said "good morning", in a cheery morning voice! (yes, I know, not everyone appreciates an annoyingly cheery "morning-person", so I poured it on thick to be even MORE anoying! hahaha all in fun!)...well the footsteps were from a man who had come to fish, and he was especially GRUMPY...didn't say a word, but glared at me very well! It turns out that Valerie had just said a cheery hello to him and he didn't like that, either!...well, we all ruined his fishing as we set up next to him (not seeing him nearby...the park is big enough...so he stomped off...ignoring our sincere apologies....). Right away another man came to fish and promptly caught TWO GIANT fish!!!...Mr. Grumpy missed his chance, but we enjoyed a good morning anyway....despite the snake incident, which I will share tomorrow...

Good Day Anyway

Good Day, Anyway__6x6 oil on linen panel___sold

I've been busy traveling and teaching. Last week I enjoyed teaching close to home for a change. When the Fredericksburg Artists School had to suddenly cancel my workshop, the artists who had signed up banded together and asked if we could do it nearby...so, I called on my old tee shirt company, RockSports who just opened a location that also houses a gourmet chocolate company and coffee shop...They have a BIG lounge area which was PERFECT for our group. We spent much of the time outside, painting the quickly changing light of sunrises and sunsets...wait till you see some of the works we did!...and tomorrow I will share the strange story of why this one is titled "Good Day, Anyway"

Tiny Yucca 2

Tiny Yucca 2___2.5 x 2.5___original oil with tiny easel__$60
This week I am in Austin, teaching a small group workshop. We have our "home base" at the north Austin RockSports location, which also houses Joel's Coffee, Truffles & Tea...one of those cool new Austin-type coffee houses. Tomorrow we will be there sketching Brad as he makes CHOCOLATE!!!
I want to invite EVERYONE to drop by this week and see what we are up to! If we aren't there. look in the window and you will see our works...The artists I am working with are REALLY good, so we are putting our works on display as we go! "Wet Paint in the Window" is the name of our little group show....you will catch us there between noon and 5 pm....our early mornings and early evenings will be spent "in the field" painting on location around some of Austin's waterways. email me if you need more info. Here is a link to RockSports and Joel's map.
11301 Lakeline Blvd, Austin, TX 78717
....come see us!!

Tiny Saguaro 2

Tiny Saguaro 2__2.5 x 2.5 oil on little bitty canvas, with easel...$60

When you do not hear from me for days on end, you can bet that I am out of internet range!...This past week I spent time in Nebraska, painting and studying the lay of the land at the Duck Creek Ranch. This place is in the sand hills of western, NE, with a few miles of the North Platte River running through it. My buddy Tina came along and we had a great "girl's road trip"...I will post some of those works soon, but here is one from Arizona a few days ago!

This week I am in Austin, teaching a small group workshop. We have our "home base" at the north Austin  RockSports location, which also houses Joel's Coffee, Truffles & Tea...one of those cool new Austin-type coffee houses. I want to invite EERYONE to drop by this week and see what we are up to! The artists I am working with are REALLY good, so we are putting our works on display as we go! "Wet Paint in the Window" is the name of our little group show....you will catch us there between noon and 5 pm....our early mornings and early evenings will be spent "in the field" painting on location around some of Austin's waterways. email me if you need more info. Hre is a link to RockSports and Joel's map.

11301 Lakeline Blvd, Austin, TX 78717....come see us!!

Tiny Yucca

Tiny Yucca 1___2.5x2.5 oil on tiny canvas with tiny easel!___$60
Like yesterday's post, the little yucca is on a little canvas....Today I am on the way to Nebraska. My friend T came along for the road trip and she will hang out at the ranch while I am there to paint it! I am looking forward to this commission, and painting some serious ranch land along the wonderful Platte River....

Tiny Shadow

Tiny Shadow___2.5 x 2.5 oil on little canvas ___$60

I prepared a few REALLY tiny works for the Phippen show. Here is one I brought back...larger than actual size! Below is a photo for scale....that's my hand while using my SPECIAL art photography technique...(those of you who have taken my workshop are snickering now....)

Speaking of workshops...I am teaching (suddenly) in AUSTIN, TX next week.

There is room for only a few more artists...

We will work ouside in the early mornings and have a great coffee shop location for our afternoons...

That means all coffee is included (tea too!), with our famous Round ROck Donuts!

The coffee shop wants to have a reception for us at the end of the week, and that will be FUN!

email me if you are interested! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Sunny Quick Draw

Sunny __12 x 12 oil__Quick Draw aat the Phippen Museum Show__Sold

A week ago I was in Arizona, painting at the Phippen Museum Western Art Show Quick Draw. This quick draw gives artists 45 minutes to paint, an then 15 minutes to frame it! The crowd gathers around and watches. Artist friends come by and heckle (gotta love those artists!) Then we parade the paintings before a huge crowd and the works are auctioned. Sunny sold to collectors who have purchased from me before!

HEY YOU ARTISTS IN AUSTIN! I have a small group who organized a quick workshop HERE in Austin on the week of June 11-15. I will teach on 3 or 4 of those days! ASre you interested? The group is guaranteed to be small. Email if interested! vvaughan8@yahoo.com